Nelson's novel details a failed London romance. The ostensible reason for its failure, given by the narrator, is that he has become emotionally impotent in the face of the trauma of being a young black man struggling to cope with police violence and black-on-black violence. However, given that the object of his affections remains something of a mystery femme fatale, transformed into magic pixie girl whose thing is dancing, it suggests that part of the relationship’s problem is an inability to connect with the significant other and see her in terms that go beyond a predictable vision of urban romance. There's lots in the novel that chimes with anyone who has lived a London youth - the Ritzy, dive bars in Dalston, etcetera. But it's also striking that the protagonists have a decent amount of disposable income, forever hopping into Ubers to cross town on a whim. They live with their parents so presumably pay minimal rent - reflecting a two tier London system between those who are sheltered by their parents and those who have to fend for themselves - a division that is determined by neither race nor class.
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